Rue Van Soust in Anderlecht and more specifically the section located between rue du Potaerdenberg and rue de Sévigné. Overall the street is completely broken” class=”absolute inset-0 w-full”/>“I couldn’t take it anymore”
Looking more like a muddy path than a real street, the road has caused more than one resident to flee. “I bought in 2001”, remembers Natacha. “At the time, we were told the renovations were coming. We had already told that to the previous owner. Ultimately, nothing changes. We had dead trees for years that threatened to fall on the house, (they have since been shot). The shoes are always full of mud and the cars are always disgusting. I couldn’t take it anymore: it was me or the street.” Faced with the lack of work, Natacha ended up selling her house. “Today, I live in Grand-Bigard in a residential area, with normal streets.”
Others still live on rue Van Soust, like Arthur: “But it’s always disgusting, the municipality sometimes comes and puts a little gravel to fill in the holes but that’s it. As soon as we go out, our shoes are full of mud. It’s really not practical when you go to work or to a restaurant. We leave our house, we are dirty.”
However, hope returned at the beginning of the 2020s when the press and television became interested in the fate of “the street of the forgotten”says Stéphanie. After a study, the municipality of Anderlecht launched a permit request in 2023 which ended up being granted in 2025.
“At the end of 2025, the public market for the works was launched. The analysis of the offers is underway and the appointment of the contractor is planned for March 2026. The works will begin as soon as possible, while respecting environmental constraints (weather report)“, notes the alderman in charge of Public Works Julien Milquet (LE).
But there still remains the question of financing. The municipality announces that it will spend 60,000 euros supplemented by a regional subsidy of 597,000 euros.
“Our door remains open”
But, here, Brussels Mobility reacts by explaining to us that, due to a lack of regional budget, nothing is specifically planned for this axis. We are then referred to the Minister of Mobility Elke Van den Brandt (Groen). The latter’s office explains to us that a request for subsidies had been submitted under the previous mandate and had received an agreement in principle but the project still lacked concrete aspects.
The scope of the project was then expanded at the request of the Region, according to the municipality. “Now that the permit is in hand, our door remains open to discuss potential regional funding. The municipality can contact us”, indicates the minister’s office. In other words, nothing seems to have been done at the moment in terms of financing.
For his part, Alderman Engagés insists that he has the agreement of the Region.
